MIAMI — Sandy Alcantara got his redemption.
And the Miami Marlins finally got a win against Major League Baseball’s top team to this point in the season.
After his worst start of the season his last time out against the Los Angeles Dodgers last weekend, Alcantara responded with a gem on Saturday.
Nine innings pitched. One earned run allowed on six hits and two walks. Ten strikeouts. His fourth complete game of the season — this one coming against the best lineup in baseball.
The offense did its part, too, to secure a 2-1 win loanDepot park. The Marlins improved to 55-71. The Dodgers fell to 87-38.
It was a much-needed bounce back after Alcantara after what happened on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. The Marlins’ ace and a legitimate contender for the National League’s Cy Young Award was chased with two outs in the fourth inning (his shortest outing of the season) after giving up six earned runs on 10 hits (both season highs).
Alcantara’s lone blemish on Saturday: A solo home run in the third inning to Mookie Betts, who sent a middle-middle slider a projected 411 feet to left-center field that put Miami in an early 1-0 hole.
After that? Alcantara allowed just two singles to Trea Turner (one of which was erased by a double play) before running into trouble in the ninth. He loaded the bases on back-to-back one-out singles to Freddie Freeman and Will Smith and a two-out walk to Justin Turner. Joey Gallo grounded out to first baseman Lewin Diaz to end the game.
Simply put, it was one of Alcantara’s best performances of the season, a 111-pitch masterpiece.
The Marlins tied the game in the fourth on a Brian Anderson RBI single that scored Jon Berti, who singled and stole second (his MLB-leading 31st stolen base of the season). Anderson slid into second base but was tagged out after briefly coming off the bag. He was ejected after arguing the call with second base umpire D.J. Reyburn. Jerar Encarnacion replaced Anderson in the lineup and in right field.
The go-ahead run? That came from Encarnacion, whose two-out single through the left side in the sixth inning scored Joey Wendle.
